Business Review – Airtran Airways

I booked my flight online. It was relatively painless and smoothly
done. These guys had the most competitive rates last night.

Do note, they ask and encourage you to pick seats, but when you do you are then charge extra money. I saw the cost range from $6 to $12 more simply by picking a seat. Well ok, I don’t need to pick a seat. Simply on principle I bypassed that section.

After a busy morning, being pushed by some annoying kids, waiting half an hour for a bus, and nearly having it out with an overly angry bus
driver, I eventually made it to the airtran terminal.

They have kiosks available, yet you stand on line. Eventually I asked
the people in front of me if they were on line for the kiosk or for a
human. They all said human so I jumped past them over to a kiosk.

I entered my confirmation number and followed the prompts. Now again I am prompted to choose a seat, but this time I see the price jump up by $50 dollars. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CRAP.

Well, I examined the screen and saw that on the side is a little
airplane model, the highlighted section was business class. Tricky
bastards! You have to first choose the section on the right side tiny
model, then choose the seats at the regular rate. Don’t fall for the
trick.

I went through security and hustled to my gate, I made it literally as
they were closing the door!

(I’d like to interrupt this review to take a moment to say F THE MTA!)

So yeah, I just made it, the guys said “dude you just made it”!
However I didn’t get to eat, pee, poop, hydrate or pick up any food
for the ride. Once on board I saw a flight attendant and asked her if
she had anything for sale.

She said no, but she gave me a bunch of brisquettes, pretzels and
animal crackers when I told her my blood sugar was low, she also gave me a full can of Ginger ale and finally she was sympathetic when I told her I’d probably miss my next connection: “There are alot of
flights to Orlando, you’ll be fine.”

She’s definitely the highlight of the first leg of my trip. I also got
lucky and got a seat with nobody next to me, woot woot! As of my first
flight of the trip I have no complaints.

Note, they market wifi on every flight, but it’s not free. You have to
purchase it through a browser. $1.95 gets you 15 minutes.

*Second leg of the flight*

As expected, the long delay in my first flight caused me to miss my
connecting flight. What can I say? Things happen right?

So I am directed to customer service, I’m told I was rebooked on
another flight. I go down to another booth, they tell me I am in fact
not rebooked and I need to go to another customer area.

So I go, I get online and wait. Eventually I make my way up the line
and explain my situation. The lady says ok and a few clicks later
hands me a new boarding pass. That simple.

Downside is that it’s 2 hours later. Anyway, whatever. I pick a spot
on the floor, get to charging my phone by an outlet, call my sister,
text the lady, text a few friends, post a new blog entry, play some
“words with friends” and voila its 2 hours later.

I’m on the flight now, bit of a delay on takeoff, but again, it is
what it is. I am listening to their xm Sirius and chillaxing. The spa
station is very relaxing, I nodded off.

So far, all things considered I’m all good.

*Third leg, return flight*

This time I bypassed the line and went straight to a kiosk. I knew the deal already. I considered upgrading my seats, but none were available, oh well.

For the 3rd leg, return portion of my flight, I had a large, yet quite friendly neighbor. This flight felt much more tiring and actually quite long compared to the first ones. I was lucky that the plane wasn’t packed and asked to move to an empty row. I had 3 to myself. Alright. Me and my neighbor spoke across aisles, but thanks for the empty space I’m certain we were both happy, as I myself am not a small person. And unless you want to snuggle with me, sitting so tight is not a pleasant experience. Again, unless you don’t mind cuddling with me.

*Fourth leg, 2nd return flight*

For the fourth leg of my flight I have a brief layover in Wisconsin. Yes, Wisconsin. Same gate, same plane. This time I got a seat that was jacked, it leaned to one side and I felt lopsided the whole trip. Also it kept on sliding back from the upright position. I told the guy and he claimed it was fine, I figured whatever, it’s only 1.5 hours on this thing. This flight was crowded, but fortunately my neighbors were small and it wasn’t so bad. I mean 2 big people don’t work. LOL. On this seat my XM radio plug didn’t work either, only one side work, the other side didn’t. Blech.. I did make a friend, one of the flight attendants saw me writing about 9/11 and asked to read it, so I gave her my card and told her to check tonight or any time after for my post.

I made it home safe and sound. Overall flying with airtran was smooth and affordable. I’ll definitely use them again for trips such as this.